The present invention relates to a device for analyzing and classifying a mobile terminal application.
In the field of the use of mobile terminals in association with motor vehicles, there is a known way of using a docking station positioned in a motor vehicle and enabling the interfacing of a mobile terminal and the use of an application running on said mobile terminal, via interface means integrated with the vehicle operating in place of the interface means of said mobile terminal.
Thus a user can access applications present on his mobile terminal from his vehicle, in a driving situation or otherwise.
However, because of the mental load that this may create, such use of an application in a motor vehicle may prove to be highly dangerous, depending on the driving conditions. In such cases the user's distraction should be limited and any use of this kind should be prevented. It is therefore necessary to estimate said mental load. This mental load can be summarized in the form of a type associated with the application.
There is a known mechanism by which the application itself indicates its application type to the docking station. However, the reliability of this indication is questionable. This is because the information about the application type may be falsified either within the application or during its transfer from the mobile terminal toward the docking station.
There is also a known mechanism for certification of the application type at source. This mechanism does not resolve all the difficulties. The question of liability remains unanswered. Any non-certified application is unauthorized by default. This reduces the number of applications that can be used. This mechanism introduces a degree of complexity which tends to increase the time taken to make an application available. Furthermore, this mechanism provides no protection against a falsification of the information on the application type during its transfer between the mobile terminal and the docking station.
If there is an accident during the use of a normally unauthorized application, the manufacturer of the docking station is held liable, even if the station has been misled by a falsified application type.
It will therefore be useful to propose a device capable of determining the type of an application solely on the basis of elements which are entirely verifiable by, and under the control of, the docking station.